Profile

Nicola Dale

Nicola Dale was a Metal Artist in residence in Shanghai from Mid November – Mid December 2013

Nicola Dale is an artist based at Rogue Studios, Manchester and an Associate Member of the British Society of Sculptors (ARBS). Her work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Australia, America and Europe, including Manchester Art Gallery’s record-breaking national touring exhibition The First Cut. Nicola was a Metal artist in residence in Shanghai from mid November – mid December 2013.

Nicola’s practice is concerned with what knowledge looks like. She imagines a particular piece of knowledge and creates a physical form from this abstract idea. Further Nicola is increasingly drawn to how we format knowledge and how this is changing over time. The book as the traditional but endangered repository of knowledge inevitably recurs as both a theme and a medium in her work.

The key focus within Nicola’s practice over the next two years is to explore the wider effects of knowledge’s transformation into “information”. During her Metal Shanghai residency Nicola will generate research in a wider and more informed context, focusing on Shanghai’s main library – one of the ten largest libraries in the world that houses ancient and rare texts alongside networked areas. As a repository of both old and new forms of knowledge, it presents a vast and unique place to research human interaction with knowledge.

Nicola’s research encompassed sketching, photography, writing (including blog), discussion/interview with students at the Shanghai Art School and other documentary formats.

As it can be seen from the images, Nicola’s current works-in-progress are moving beyond the realm of “bookworks” and into a wider sculptural context.

Nicola presented an artist talk about her work and trip to Shanghai at Metal Liverpool on Wednesday 19th February 2014